Choosing who to interview in the sports medicine fellowship match

Little is known about what goes on between application to fellowship (or residency) programs, and rank-ordering for the relevant medical Match.  Here's an attempt at looking into the black box of choosing who to interview, and combining interview information with other information to determine rank order lists:

Factors Used by Program Directors in the Orthopedic Sports Medicine Fellowship Match
Travis Menge, Ashley Nord, Kendall Hamilton, Monica LaPointe and Peter J.L. Jebson
Journal of Surgery [Jurnalul de chirurgie], Volume 16:2, 2020

Abstract
Background: Obtaining an orthopedic sports medicine fellowship position is becoming more difficult, as the number of residents seeking post-graduate training continues to increase.
Objective: To identify factors that orthopedic surgery sports medicine fellowship program directors deem valuable in selecting applicants.
Methods: A web-based questionnaire was sent to all ACGME accredited sports medicine fellowship program directors in the United States in 2016. The questionnaire was designed to identify the most important criteria in selecting applicants for an interview, and ranking candidates to match into their program.
Results: Thirty-five of ninety-one program directors responded. The criteria for offering an applicant an interview were quality of recommendation letter, technical competence, and residency program reputation. Letters of recommendation that held the highest value were from the chief of sports medicine and another sports medicine surgeon in the department. The most important features of the interview were the applicant’s ability to articulate thoughts, the maturity of the applicant, and the ability of the applicant to listen well. The attributes deemed most important in high ranking a candidate included the applicant’s commitment to hard work, quality of the interview, and quality of letters of recommendation.